Agents of the Order
by Gnomie022
Summary: In the final war Harry finally defeated Voldemort ending his reign of terror yet somehow many of his followers got away. Members of the Order pulled together creating an agency of elite fighters to stop those who killed their loved ones.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Agents of the Order  
**Rating:** T for now...  
**Disclaimer:** Do you think I look like JKR? Didn't think so. Nope don't own it.

**A/N:** I soooo should not be starting another story when I haven't even updated my other ones in a too long of a time...but I couldn't resist this one. Ok, read this and tell me what you think please. It's an interesting idea I had and I'm not yet sure if it's any good. This chapter is basically background info.

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There was only one way out. I had spent months studying the plans, and after everything was initiated there was only one way out. Unfortunately the only way out was blocked by _him_. I suddenly found myself in a very sticky situation. Perhaps I should back up a little so you can understand how I got into my current situation.

My name is Hermione Granger. That's right, I am _THE_ Hermione Granger, smartest girl to every graduate from Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, best friends with Harry Potter the Boy Who Lived, one of the Golden Trio, and Ronald Weasley's betrothed. Yes I know all those things people refer to me as. I also know that to some narrow minded purebloods I am known as "that annoying mudblood whore who just won't die." It seems everyone has some nickname for me.

You know, it's kinda strange actually. A little over a decade ago I was a friendless muggle know-it-all, and now I am commonly the topic at dinner tables and am constantly being hounded by reporters and photographers from different wizarding tabloids. Yes, life does take some strange turns.

After the bloody war with Voldemort and his Deatheaters ended five years ago everyone expected me to give up the crime-fighting lifestyle and take up healing, or storm my way through various ministry of magic positions until I became minister.

That never happened though. Yes I had seriously thought about becoming a healer, but honestly binding wounds has never been my forte. I also thought about what it would be like to become Minister of Magic by the age of twenty-five, but that just gave me a headache. No, my calling lay somewhere else.

You see, watching the torture and slow murder of people you care about deeply can really cause you to re-think what your role in life is. Sure, we ended the war and Harry destroyed Voldemort, but a great number of his followers were not captured, and after I watched my parents and the love of my life get killed there was no way in hell I was going to let those fucking bastards get away.

Not surprisingly a lot of other people agreed with me. Many wealthy, and extremely influential people such as the newly instated Minister of Magic Arthur Weasley (Old What's-his-name was killed very early in the war by his death-eater mistress). Arthur suffered great losses due to the war. Not only was his son (my fiancé) Ron killed, but also his son Charlie was left with severe mental trauma, and his beloved wife Molly was left in a coma with little hope of ever waking up.

Arthur refused to believe that justice had been done by the destruction of Voldemort alone. The culprits behind the attacks on his loved ones had not been apprehended. That meant they were either one in the large number of casualties in the war, or they had gotten away. Arthur knew justice would never truly be reached until every single follower of Voldemort was captured and dealt with. Then there was also the problem of someone trying to take the Dark Lord's place, and this had to be prevented at all costs.

Many witches and wizards agreed (thus securing Arthur's new position) and a secret coalition of the most powerful wizards and witches was established.

It was given the name The Order of the Phoenix in honor of the several brave members of the original order that had given their lives in the fight against the dark lord. The number one task of the coalition was to seek out potential Deatheaters, collect evidence against them, and then expose them.

Since the Order couldn't very well advertise what they were doing secrecy became of the upmost importance. How secret did it become? Well, have you ever watched the muggle movie _Men In Black? _Yeah it was _that_ secret.

See we couldn't exactly let the Deatheaters know we were out to get them, so after extensive work we were able to form a new branch at the ministry, and no one, who wasn't involved, had any idea about it.

At the time the idea first came around I was a very distraught, and very very angry eighteen year old. Arthur asked both Harry and I if we were interested in helping start it. Without hesitation we both agreed.

Everything started out very slow. We had to do hours upon hours of research to find the necessary secrecy spells. Then there was the tedious job of recruitment, then we had to sift through the applicants and modify the memories of those who were denied, and then we had to place enchantments on those accepted so that they could not tell a soul about what we did _NO MATTER WHAT!_

Finally after all the many boring technicalities were sorted out the Order started training it's new agents. The training was grueling and several recruits had to drop out. It was a dangerous thing we were doing here, and therefore only the best could be allowed in. All applicants were trained in the ways of Auror's, and then the training was taken even further. They were required to build up immunities against the most potent truth serums and poisons. They learned to use wandless magic occlumency to their fullest extent, and they trained and honed their senses so that their instincts and movements became almost animalistic.

It took nearly three full years for the average agent to complete the training. Harry and I, and a few others that fought beside us in the war, completed the training in six months. I guess spending seven years of your life battling against the most powerful wizard since Merlin makes you kind of good at that whole fighting thing. Seriously, you have no idea what it was like going up against that guy. He wouldn't freaking die until we had every single horcrux destroyed. He was like one of those nasty bugs that no matter how many times you hit it won't squish!

Anyway, nine months after the Order started the first team of Phoenix Agents was preparing to set off on their first assignment. Unfortunately we ran into a little hitch.

Arthur had promised the public justice, and since the Order was a secret no one knew Arthur was fulfilling his promise, and the public was growing angry. To keep them appeased we formed a group called the DEC, or the Death Eater Catchers. I know, not the most original name, but it got the job done. The DEC was mostly comprised of wizards and witches that had shown Auror talent, but were not Phoenix material. They were effective at appeasing the public, and they served as a nice decoy to prevent any suspicions about the Order. Unfortunately for the Order they constantly were getting in our way and had nearly blown our cover several times. Phoenix Agents do not really like DEC Agents.

To further throw off public suspicions each Agent was required to have at least a fake day job. Harry and I went to work for Fred and George Weasley (both were also Phoenix agents) at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Those two were seriously in need of extra trust worthy help, and it was an effective way to convince the public that Harry and I simply wanted to settle down to a quiet life. Immediately gossip columnists had us engaged with a baby on the way, but those rumors were soon killed when a furious Ginerva Weasley hexed two writers of the Gossip Globe, Parvati and Padma Patil.

Finally after much aggravation Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, Katie Bell, and I headed out on our first assignment as Phoenix Agents. We had magically disguised ourselves, I was a blonde haired blue eyed Swede named Jennifer Johnson, and I was married to a red headed Irish man named Matthew aka Harry Potter. We were vacationing in the Swiss Alps with our close friends John and Phyllis Marana aka Neville and Katie. Both Neville and Katie had brown hair, but Neville's eyes were changed to blue while Katie's were brown.

Our target was Veronica Bordeux, a french clothing designer. We had reasonable suspicion that Bordeux was a part of an underground muggle slave trading ring, and that she had worked directly under Voldemort during his reign.

Without going into too much detail I can tell you that our mission was very nearly a disaster, and only on a small stroke of luck were we able to discover the evidence needed to convict Bordeux. Surprisingly it was Neville who saved our butts that trip. After that no one _ever_ doubted Neville's usefulness.

Veronica Bordeux became the first Deatheater to be captured by the Order.

Many others were captured in her wake, but the amount of followers Voldemort had was staggering and our work is still far from over. There have been a great number of casualties on boh sides. For awhile the number of Order casualties were increasing at an alarming rate. Talk of allowing Unforgiveables to be used started and that talk quickly turned into a very heated debate. It was finally decided that the Cruciatus and Imperius curses would remain banned. As far as most of the agents knew the Killing Curse was banned as well. That was not entirely true.

The Order's top agents were given permission to use the Killing Curse when the situation deemed it absolutely necessary. In other words, they were given a license to kill. Harry and I were both given such a license. Fred, George, Bill, and Ginny were given one as well. Nym Lupin (Tonks no more) received one along with Neville, Katie and eleven other agents. We kept it limited to twenty because the danger of mis use of the curse was too great.

Now with the power of the curse, and the growing experience we were getting our casualties declined greatly. The secrecy of the Order remained intact, and each day new recruits were processed for entrance into the Academy.

Now, that brings us to my current situation. I am twenty-three years old, and am one of the highest agents in the Order second only to Harry. The two of us answer directly to Minister of Magic Arthur Weasley, who is the only person with authority enough to give us direct orders. I have completed hundreds of missions with very few casualties to my team, and I am considered one of the most powerful witches alive, and here I find myself without a wand and my only exit is cut off from me by none other than Draco Malfoy, the ferret that Harry and I have been after for nearly three years ever since we discovered he was still alive.

We had been chasing Malfoy across the continent and had finally tracked him to an underground dwelling. We weren't sure what kind of establishment he had going on, so we sent in spies to scope the place out. As far as they could tell no illegal activity had been going on, but that didn't matter much to us. Malfoy had played a large role in the death of Hogwarts beloved head master Dumbledore, and we were determined to bring him down.

The spies had given us an accurate layout of the underground structure Malfoy was hiding in. The plan had been that we would go in and block off each exit one by one and shepherd Malfoy into a corner where we could disarm and arrest him. Unfortunately even the best laid plans go amiss, and well, here we are. It appears I have lost the upper hand, and I have no idea if any of my team knows what has happened.

I sent up a silent prayer to anyone that might be listening as Malfoy stretched his wand out towards me and smirked evilly.

"_Perhaps he will kill me swiftly and I won't suffer,_" I thought. Doubtful. I had a feeling I was in for a long torturous end.

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**A/N:** So, what did you think? Should I continue with this or let it fester and die? Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Well, I got a couple responses to continue this (thanks for reviewing)...so I guess I will...and the next day too! Weird for me I know.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own it ok?

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Hermione squeezed her eyes shut as she waited for Malfoy to hit her with a curse. When nothing happened she carefully peeked one eye open to see what he was doing. His smirk had changed from evil to amusement as he stared at the cringing witch in front of him.

"What I would have given to have you in this position ten years ago. Really Granger I had expected more of a fight out of you," Draco said casually.

"Well Malfoy as you so observantly noticed I seem to be without a wand or even back up, so there is not much left for me to do is there?" Hermione said glaring at the wizard in front of her.

Hermione took in Draco's appearance and what she saw shocked her. His hair was cut short and wasn't at all neat like he used to keep it. His nose was crooked, it had obviously been broken several times. He had a thick scar above his left eye and another scar ran down his right cheek. His once vibrant grey eyes had lost their spark, and he had several pre-mature wrinkles on his face.

Live in hiding had not been kind to the Slytherin Prince. Despite his change in appearance he still held onto his trademark smirk. That infuriating "I-am-greater-than-the-world" smirk. Hermione really hated that smirk.

"I thought agents of the Order were required to know wandless magic before being allowed out in the field," Draco said.

"We are, but I'm too far from my wand to be able to call it, and wandless magic can only do so much against an armed opponent!" Hermione spat. Then her eyes opened wide in surprise. "How did you know about the..." She trailed off.

"You're not the only one with spies Granger. One of your 'agents' actually works for me"

"But the secret binding...how did he get passed that?" Hermione asked almost panicked. If Malfoy knew about the Order, then how many others did as well?

"_She_ was never actually bound to the secret. Someone messed up and she can talk about it all she wants," Draco said triumphantly.

"Who?" Hermione asked while trying to ignore the nausea growing in her stomach.

"Now what would be the purpose in telling you that?" Draco asked. "Either you'll execute her for telling, or you'll obliterate her mind and remove her from the Order, or you'll just re-administer the binding and in any case I would lose an important informate."

"Well what harm would there be in telling me since I am about to die anyway?" Hermione asked.

Draco frowned.

"Who said anything about killing you? I may be a lot of things Granger but I am _not_ a murderer."

"Liar!" Hermione spat. "You seem to be forgetting something that happened about seven years ago." Draco looked shocked for a moment.

"I didn't kill Dumbledore Granger, Snape did. Everyone knows that."

"But if it hadn't been for you Snape never would have felt obligated to go back to Voldemort. He did it because of you, and then there was no turning back for him."

"Obviously, since your little army killed him before even giving him a trial!"

"We were at _war_ Malfoy. He was killing people left and right. Harry had shown me a curst to use when it was necessary...he had to be stopped!"

"Oh, so you're the one who finished him off. Who's the murderer now?"

"Technically he died from complications of the hex I put on him, but yes. I was responsible. That does not make _me_ a murderer. You are just as much to blame as I am! If you hadn't-"

"Silencio!" Draco shouted angrily. "Stop telling me things I already know Granger! I _know_ it is my fault Dumbledore is dead. I _know_ it is my fault Snape is dead! I know that if I had never been born a lot more people would possibly be alive right now. I know I know I KNOW!" Draco stopped and took a deep breath.

"My father started poisoning my mind the day I was born. He told me it was my duty to follow the Dark Lord and hate all those who opposed him. He told me to hate anyone not of purebolood because I was better than they were, and they were not fit to even be in my presence.

"I grew up hearing all these things. Then I went away to school, and my father told me to hate anyone not in Slytherin, and most importantly I was to hate Dumbledore. He was destroying everything purebloods worked for and had contributed to the fall of our Lord.

"I was an arrogant mis-informed prat and I am _truly_ sorry for all the grief I have caused in the past." Draco lifted the hex off Hermione.

"Malfoy I-"

"Just leave Granger. Please," he said stepping aside so she could pass. She had just opened her mouth to say something when in stormed a group of wizards with their wands outstretched.

"Stupefy!" screamed the leader a red bolt of light shot at Draco. Surprised he was unable to dodge it and he crumpled to the ground in a heap.

"Harry wait!" Hermione screamed running up to him.

"Hermione! Are you all right? Did he hurt you?" Harry asked concern filling his eyes.

"No Harry but-"

"We waited for you for nearly an hour. Dover here went searching for you and found your wand. We feared the worst," Harry said pulling her into a hug.

"I'm fine Harry really. The lay outs weren't as accurate as we thought. I ended up getting stuck in one ward, and then I was hit by another and I dropped my wand. Before I could Accio it I was thrown down a chute and dumped here. I was about to run out but then Malfoy suddenly appeared and there was no way around him." At the mention of Draco's name Harry remembered the petrified man.

"Lucky for him he didn't hurt you otherwise I would have killed him on the spot. I am glad your all right Hermione," Harry said. Then he walked over to the crumpled form of Draco and kicked him hard in the ribs. "For seven years you've somehow slipped past me Malfoy. Seven FUCKING YEARS! I don't know how you did it, but that doesn't matter anymore. We have you now, and you are going to pay for everything you've done. Take him!" Harry said to the group of wizards behind him. They moved forward and one of them petrified Draco. Then they levitated him and walked him down the tunnel and out of the building past the apparition wards. He was taken directly to Azkaban where he would be held until his trial.

Hermione had stayed quiet through the whole thing. After Draco had been taken away Harry turned to her.

"Are you sure you're all right?" He asked. Hermione nodded her head as tears slid down her cheeks.

"He could have killed me Harry. I was wandless and alone. He could have finished me off but he didn't. Why didn't he?" She asked. Harry shook his head and put his arm around her shoulders.

"I don't know. Come, let's get you home," Harry said handing her her wand. Together they walked outside then apparated to Hermione's apartment. Harry led Hermione over to the couch then sat her down.

"I'm going to go put some tea on and then call Arthur to let him know what happened," he said. Hermione nodded and Harry walked away leaving her to her thoughts.

So many different things were racing through Hermione's head. How long had Malfoy known about them? How many others knew? If he had an informant how come he didn't know that they were after him? Why had he not hurt her, and what had he been trying to tell her before Harry and the others came in? It almost sounded like he had been trying to justify his actions for the past. He had apologized...but had he been sincere? Hermione was pulled out of her thoughts by a loud pop and then someone rapping sharply on her apartment door.

"It's probably Arthur," Harry said as he ran to open the door. Sure enough before Harry even reached the door it flew open and in walked a very worried Arthur Weasley.

"Hermione dear Harry told me what happened! Are you all right?" he asked hurrying to her side. Hermione nodded.

"Yes Arthur don't worry, he didn't hurt me at all." Hermione said smiling at Arthur's concern. Since the war ended Arthur had become a kind of father figure to Hermione and in the absence of his wife he had taken over her job of worrying.

"Well did he say anything to you to incriminate himself?" Arthur asked.

"No," Hermione replied. "Nothing." Arthur frowned.

"Did you find any evidence then? Any sign of illegal activity?"

"No," Hermione sighed.

"Well tomorrow we'll start the interrogation, and the DEC is headed over to his place to search for evidence. If we don't find anything though I'm afraid we'll have to release him. We don't actually have enough to hold him right now, but we're making an exception considering the circumstances," Arthur said looking pointedly at Harry.

"Arthur, I'd like to be part of the interrogation team," Hermione said. Arthur shook his head.

"I'm afraid that's out of the question Hermione. You're supposed to be living a quiet lifestyle while working at the joke shop remember?"

"Yes, and then I find out that the man responsible for the death of Dumbledore has been caught. It doesn't sound at all suspicious Arthur. Please!" Arthur smiled at Hermione's pleading face.

"Well I still think you should let the DEC handle this, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have you asking him questions too. No hexing him though or I will have to have you removed got it?" Hermione nodded.

"If she's going then I am too!" Harry said.

"No Harry, you are not!" Arthur said.

"But why not?" Harry asked.

"Because we have a prisoner right now with three broken ribs. That is why not."

"Injuries from the fight," Harry said looking away.

"Harry you know just as well as I do that those injuries did not come from any struggle. Now there will be no arguing about it. We'll leave this project up to Hermione."

"Fine," Harry said looking slightly angry.

"Wait a minute I just remembered something!" Hermione said looking almost panicked. "Arthur he knew!"

"Knew what dear?"

"About the Order, he knew about us somehow. There's an informant among us. Someone who didn't receive the binding properly...a girl...we've got to find her and then find out who else knows!" Arthur looked at Hermione in shock.

"He told you this?" Hermione nodded. "I'm sorry to have to do this to you two since you just finished one assignment, but we've got to bring everyone in for questioning. Including those agents out on assignment right now. We can't miss a single person," Arthur said running his hand agitatedly through his hair. "To think of the damage that might already be done-" Arthur was cut off by two loud pops.

"Hey daddyo, how goes it?" A purple skinned George asked. Fred stood next to him trying to hide a smile.

"George what happened to your skin?" Harry asked.

"Huh?" George said as he looked at his hands. "What's wrong with it?"

"George you're purple!" Arthur said in a slightly high voice. George looked at Arthur surprised and then he turned and punched Fred in the shoulder.

"You told me no one else would be able to see it!" he said angrily. Fred laughed.

"Ok so I was wrong," he said. George narrowed his eyes dangerously but Fred just pushed him out of the way.

"We heard you guys were back, and we wanted to know how everything went," Fred said.

"We'll have to explain it later boys, right now we've got a major crisis on our hands and we've got to get everyone in the Order together," Arthur said.

"Why whatever for?" George asked confused.

"Come on I'll explain it on the way to headquarters," Arthur said.

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**A/N:** So...tell me what you thought about this chapter...sorry to leave it kind of a cliffy...but I needed to end it somewhere. I will try to have another chapter up soon...but don't hold me to that. I also have been working on re-formatting my other stories so that I can put up new chapters on those. I hope to have them up soon. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: (peeks around corner) Hello? Anyone still out there? I know I know I'm a terrible terrible person for not updating in a very long time...but really...it's excusable. I suck I know. But...here's another chapter...and hopefully you will like it...so read on...please?**

**Disclaimer: No, Anything Harry Potter related does not belong to me. Sucks I know.**

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Witches and wizards milled about the large room talking amongst themselves quietly. Every single agent, including ones that had been away on assignment, was called to attend this emergency meeting. The Order did not want to risk drawing attention to itself in this way, and they had only risked it one other time to announce the capture of the last Dementor. The creatures had been running loose stealing the souls of whomever they chose. The Order had lost many agents to them and the end of that threat was gladly welcomed.

After the last agent entered the room Arthur walked up to his podium in front. He pointed his wand towards his throat and muttered, "Sonorus." After loudly clearing his throat he asked everyone in a booming voice to please take their seats.

All three hundred and forty-two agents, plus the sixty seven that were in training hurriedly sat down and a hush fell over the room.

"What do you think this is about?" Katie Bell whispered to Fred who she had sat down next to.

"We're about to find out," Fred replied.

"Today, thanks to the work of several skilled agents we have managed to take in to custody Draco Malfoy, a wizard that has managed to evade us for a very long time," Arthur said. Immediately the room was filled with excited whispers. Katie grabbed Fred's arm.

"Is he absolutely sure that we captured _the_ Draco Malfoy?" She asked. Fred nodded his head slowly.

"Aye, Harry and Hermione got him earlier today," he replied.

"I'm sure George is absolutely ecstatic," Katie replied biting her lip slightly. Fred nodded vaguely and turned his attention back to the front where Arthur was holding his hand up to silence the room.

"This is good news, but that is not the reason I have called you all here today. The reason you are here is of much greater importance which is why several of you were pulled off of assignment. You see with the capture of Mr. Malfoy we have discovered something very grave indeed." Fred glanced over at Katie who kept shifting in her seat.

"We have discovered that somewhere in the Order an Agent of the Phoenix has somehow resisted the binding charms and has betrayed us all. Mr. Malfoy knows of our establishment and we fear others may have been alerted as well!" A great uproar filled the room as agents cried out in disbelief and anger. Slowly Katie started to slide out of her seat. Fred's arm shot out and he grabbed her wrist pulling her back.

"Let's see what else my father has to say shall we?" he asked.

"It is absolutely imperative that we find who the traitor is and I'm afraid everyone has to go through processing and every binding spell must be re-administered for safety's sake," Arthur continued. "Wards have been placed around this room to prevent anyone from leaving until they have gone through questioning. I must assure you all what a grave situation this is. I promise you the informant shall be found and dealt with. Thank you." Arthur stepped down and the room was again filled with talking voices. Fred glanced over at the Katie who was looking slightly green.

"Interesting turn of events wouldn't you agree?" he asked. "Now, come with me quietly Katie. You know something about this don't you?" Katie nodded her head slightly and followed Fred wordlessly to a door on the side of the room.

Fred rapped musically on the door and Hermione opened it revealing a dim room with Arthur, Harry, Ginny, George, and Nymphadora Lupin inside.

"Fred, what's this?" George asked jumping up from the desk he was sitting on. Katie looked down and Fred shut the door behind them.

"I think we need to start the questioning with Katie," Fred said escorting her to a chair in the center of the room.

"Fred," George started, "Surely you can't think that Katie-"

"He's right George," Katie cut in tears gleaming in her eyes. "The questioning should start with me." Surprise lit up George's face and he fell back into a chair unsure of how to handle the turn of events.

"All right Miss Bell, perhaps you should start from the beginning," Arthur said. Katie nodded solemnly.

"About three years ago I was sitting in a little pub on the southern coast of Ireland. It was just after the terrible disaster when we were trying to capture Harkonin and his group of death eaters." Arthur nodded recalling the incident.

"We lost twelve agents on that mission," he said.

"That's right," interjected Ginny, "One of the agents killed was your fiancé Mark Jenkins." Katie nodded.

"Right, our wedding was only a month away," Katie drew in a ragged breath. "I blamed myself for Mark's death and the death of all the others. I had been the leader on that mission and should have done a better job of keeping my agents safe…"Katie trailed off as a tear slipped down her cheek.

"Miss Bell, I realize this might be hard, but I need you to try to continue," Arthur said sternly. Katie nodded.

"I understand. Well, after th…the incident I had decided I needed to get away. So I escaped to drown my sorrows and hopefully forget things for one night. After only a few drinks I was feeling pretty tipsy and suddenly a man sat down at my table and offered to buy me a drink. I was about to tell him to shove off when I realized it was Malfoy. I knew he was on the top of our list, and I thought if I could get him talking I might be able to capture him and be rid of one more of the scum that had killed Mark.

"Unfortunately I had had more to drink than I had realized and I found myself saying more than I had planned. I-I guess the secret binding didn't work properly on me because before I realized what I was saying I told Malfoy that the Order was looking for him and we were hot on his trail. He asked me what Order I was talking about and that's when I realized that I had said too much. I quickly said something about ignoring the ravings of a drunken lunatic and then I ran out of the pub and apparated home. I promise you I didn't mean to tell him anything!" Katie said as a small sob escaped her throat.

Hermione frowned.

"That's all that you told him?" she asked. "You didn't meet with him later on and tell him more?"

"No!" Katie said looking up with wide eyes. "Malfoy is scum and I would never purposely endanger the Order, I've worked to long and hard preserving it!" Harry pointed his wand at Katie and muttered a few words.

"She's telling the truth," he said.

"Then Arthur that means she's not the informant," Tonks said.

"That's right," Hermione cut in. "Whoever betrayed us to Malfoy told him a lot more than just that." Arthur nodded and looked at Katie.

"Just one more thing Katie," he said. "Why didn't you come and to us and tell us what had happened right away?" Katie bit her lip.

"I was scared. I didn't understand why the charm didn't work and after the loses we had just suffered I was terrified I would be accused of sabotage. The Order was still on relatively shaky ground and I feared what the repercussions might be for me." Arthur nodded in understanding.

"I see. Well Katie, it appears that you are innocent of sabotage and betrayal. We'll have Ginny here re-administer the binding spell and then you will be free to go."

"I knew it couldn't have been you!" George cried jumping out of his chair and grabbing Katie up in a tight embrace while planting a solid kiss on her lips. He then turned bright red when he realized what he had done. "Erm…that is…I…"

"Oh shut up and tell them already George," Katie said. "We knew we couldn't keep this a secret forever."

"Keep what a secret?" Ginny asked.

"Well you see…Katie and I recently discovered this strange thing we have in common."

"Which is what?" Fred asked.

"We're completely in love with each other," Katie replied smiling up at the red head that stood next to her. Everyone in the room broke out in happy chatter and took turns embracing the couple.

"This is indeed welcomed and joyful news, but I'm afraid we have much work left to do," Arthur said. "We still have many people to question."

"Right," Ginny said and she stepped forward to re-administer the binding charm. "That should do the trick. From now on Katie you should only be able to talk about the Order with people who are involved in it." Katie nodded and hand in hand she and George left the room followed by Harry who was sent to call in the next person.

One by one each of the agents were questioned starting with those who had been in the Order the longest, and ending with the newest recruits. The secrecy spell had been redone on every single person and each had been questioned on their knowledge of the informant. Not a single person knew anything about it. When the last person left the inquisition room Fred ran out to dismiss everyone. Arthur fell back in his chair with a sigh.

"Obviously there's a crucial piece of this puzzle still missing," he said. Arthur looked up at Hermione. "We can not risk letting what Mr. Malfoy said go. We can't find answers here, so that means we're going to have to go directly to the source."

"Meaning tomorrow when I go in to talk to Malfoy I've got to get him to reveal where he got his information from," Hermione said.

"Right," Arthur replied. Then he stood up. "Well everyone, it's been a long day. Let's all go home and get some sleep." Everyone muttered their agreement and slowly they all filed out of the inquisition room and down a long hall to where the lift was. The climbed on and when it stopped at their floor everyone but Hermione got off.

"Aren't you coming Hermione?" Harry asked looking back at his friend. Hermione shook her head. "I've got to finish up on some work first," she replied.

"All right, but don't work for too much longer. Your day has been a lot longer than any of ours." Hermione nodded as the doors to the lift closed. Hermione headed up to the section of offices where all work for the Order was done. When she reached her own office she plopped herself down at her desk and started rifling through the mass of papers stacked on it. About ten minutes after she sat down her door flew open and in walked Fred.

"Hey, I saw your light on and came to see what was up. Shouldn't you be home sleeping right now?"

"Oh, well I won't be here much longer, I was just trying to sort through some of the information that we have gathered. I thought everyone left already."

"They did, but I forgot a couple files up here and had to come back to grab them. What exactly are you looking for?" Fred asked walking around the side of the desk.

"I'm going through all the inquiries again to see if there's something or someone we might have missed," she replied. "It is not going to be easy to get Malfoy to talk tomorrow and so I'm hoping to find something here that will trip him up."

"Well here, let me help you," Fred said reaching for a small stack of files.

"Oh no Fred, that's all right. You don't have to…you should go home and get some sleep," Hermione said moving to grab the files from him. Fred quickly grabbed her outstretched hand.

"Nonsense, Dad's decided that until this matter is resolved Malfoy is going to be kept in custody by the Order alone, and therefore tomorrow I'll be in questioning him with you. Meaning I should be doing just as much research as you."

"Even still Fred the amount-"

"No Hermione!" Fred said cutting her off. With a frustrated sigh he set the stack of files he was holding down. "When are you ever going to get passed this annoying habit of doing everything by yourself?" Hermione frowned and realizing Fred was still holding her hand she quickly pulled away.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" she said.

"Yes you do Hermione! For the past five years you've only relied on yourself never letting anyone help you or get close to you. Ever since Ron…ever since Ron died you've refused to let anyone near!" Hermione opened and closed her mouth a few times in shock. Then her eyebrows drew together in anger.

"You have _no_ idea what you are talking about Fred Weasley!" she said standing up and walking towards the door. Fred grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Yes I do Hermione! I'm right and you know it which is why this is making you so upset!"

"No, I'm upset because _you_ think you can just waltz in here and try to tell me what my problem is. I know what my godsdamn problem is Fred," Hermione shouted. "It's that _six_ years ago the man that I was supposed to marry was murdered, and it seems that everyone has moved on and forgotten about him…everyone except me."

"Oh gods," Fred said realization dawning on him. "Today is the anniversary of Ron's…" Hermione nodded and broke down in tears. Fred pulled her into a tight hug. "How could I have been so stupid?" Fred wondered aloud. "I can't believe I didn't remember. Hermione I am so sorry." Hermione pulled away from him slightly.

"I guess it's all right Fred…I mean everyone was so busy with the inquiries…and it's very early in the morning still…I'm sure everyone would have remembered eventually…and well…he wasn't _your_ fiancé…"

"No but he was my _brother_," Fred replied. "How could I have let myself forget? Mom never would have forgotten if circumstances had been different."

"You're right," Hermione said. "She wouldn't have forgotten in a thousand years." Fred smiled at the thought of his mother.

"Speaking of mum…how about you go home and get some rest, and later after Malfoy's interrogation we'll go visit her." Hermione shook her head.

"I was actually planning on going to visit Ron's grave later tonight," she replied.

"Well, then I'll come with you and after we can get a bite to eat and remember Ron the way he'd want us to." Hermione smiled. That sounds like a great idea," she said. "I would really appreciate the company."

"All right then come on. You need to get some sleep first."

"We both do," Hermione said smiling at Fred slightly. Fred just nodded and helped Hermione get her coat on. Then he offered her his arm and together they walked out of the office.

* * *

**A/N: Hmm...is there a little spark forming between Fred and Hermione? How did Malfoy actually get his information? And how will the interrogation go? All this and more coming up...but first I'd like you to click that little button in the bottom left corner of the screen and tell me what you think so far. Thanks for reading!**


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